Zach Matthews
Forum Replies Created
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Posts
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Well I’m happy to report that there is absolutely no shortage of ladyfish in the surf at Ft. Morgan.
Hey Keith –
Try doubling your line back over itself to make a big fat loop and pushing that through the guides; it’s a lot easier than trying to string tippet or leader.
Zach
John –
The images uploaded on the photoblog here and on Flickr have never been bigger than 875px, which I find creates just enough of an unpleasant enlargement effect when set as a wallpaper to deter most people.
Zach
What it boils down to is, if I want a camera that throws the background more out of focus at, say, f/2.8, I need to go with a full frame camera, correct?
That was my experience playing with a Nikon D700.
Wow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_confusion
That is one hell of a Wikipedia entry.
Thanks guys.
There are some very good ideas here. I’ve talked to a lot of my friends in tackle design (a surprising number of our board members are working for tackle companies, by the way). I’m sure they’re watching posts like this.
Most of them say that anglers primarily report durability complaints (i.e. the line that won’t float, waders that won’t leak type post). This is where cost/benefit intersects. Just as Ford could make a car that would never cause you injury, but would cost a fortune, so could the wader manufacturers make a wader that wouldn’t leak. You just couldn’t afford it.
For what it’s worth, I think you pretty much get what you pay for with waders. I fish in Simms Guides, which are 5-layer Gore-Tex. I literally will slide on my butt down slopes, kick through brambles and blackberries, scale fences and rocks. I’ve shredded my gravel guards. My waders still don’t leak. You get what you pay for.
Lines are a different matter. I think the line companies are pushing technology all the way to the cutting edge already. Line is just such a weird thing; it needs to be supple but stiff, slick but tough, soft enough not to damage rods but durable enough to last. We’re getting a lot of performance already from lines, but of course they always are working on higher flotation.
I like the butt-over concept but I think I’ve seen that marketed. Big EVA clown-nose looking things, like those foam fit-over grips for reel handles that came out a while back.
Rio’s Cranky was a great concept but the product just missed being perfect. The stabilizer handle is a little too short to really bear down on it. I talked to them and apparently the cost of developing a different mold didn’t justify revamping such a low-profit product.
Aaron, I don’t think you’d get much additional flotation out of filling the rod with foam. It’s already air-tight when the pieces are well-seated and it still sinks. I think you’d have to attach some kind of buoy to the butt.
Steve I agree on the camo. Simms quit making their duck camo Guide wader right before I got smart enough to want a pair. I’ve talked to them too, and it just wasn’t profitable. The duck market didn’t get it – they are 100% neoprene, or were back in 2005. If I could fish in full camo using the same gear I have now, on a lot of days, I would.
JT, I definitely agree on the handcart. I saw a great version the other day at a Sam’s Club for $70. The Rubbermaid-style bucket bolted on and off; you could easily work up a sweet pontoon travois with that. I was looking at it to convert to a trail cart a la the Hazel Creek carts.
Keep them coming guys. What about waders, reels, lines or rods annoys you? Surely you’ve had a lightbulb go off one day and said, “If only I could get them to do this…”
Zach
Michael –
Usually I use a cheap carbon fiber tripod that was recommended here on the board, I think by Drifter.
